| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
| You know, that we get of both chambers on one and two, but programs like Washington Journal that allow policymakers, lawmakers, personalities to come on and have this question time during the Washington Journal. | ||
|
unidentified
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So it's a huge benefit. | |
| I hope that all these streaming services carry C-SPAN as well because it's an important service to the American people. | ||
| I'm actually thrilled that this time in Washington Journal, I'm getting a lot of really substantive questions from across the political aisle. | ||
| Our country would be a better place if every American just watched one hour a week. | ||
| They could pick one, two, or three, just one hour a week, and we'd all be a much better country. | ||
| So thank you for your service. | ||
| On your screen this morning is Armstrong Williams, is a columnist, TV talk show host, and entrepreneur, and the owner of the Baltimore Sun, here to talk about the Trump administration's efforts in fighting crime. | ||
| Mr. Williams, let's just talk about the first federal takeover of the DC Police Department. | ||
| You wrote in a piece, in a recent piece, the silent majority is applauding. | ||
| What did you mean? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Greta, first, good morning. | |
| Listen, I am a resident of Washington, D.C. I've lived there for over 30 years. | ||
| So I speak from experience and not from an outside. | ||
| And I'm someone who frequents the neighborhood and my role as citizen journalism early in the morning. | ||
| I'm at all different locations around the city. | ||
| And I can tell you that homelessness, erratic crime, juvenile crime, crime at the Navy Yard and Southeast in the most underserved neighborhoods is just rampant. | ||
| I mean, juvenile crime. | ||
| And you had a DC city council that would fight with Mayor, Mayor Bowser, who's truly a law enforcement mayor who wanted to put laws in place where this cashless bail and these other things and this recidivism where these kids go and they think they can be rehabilitated. | ||
| Yes, 90% of the kids can be rehabilitated, Greta. | ||
| But the problem is that 90% of the crimes are committed by at least 5% of these kids. | ||
| And you just keep putting these kids back out in the street and the crime becomes worse and worse and worse. | ||
| And so the mayor was at its wit's end, at her wit's end. | ||
| So whether or not President Trump made the right decision to bring in the National Guard, you may see that as being extreme, but the crime has become so extreme that you needed a measure to send a message to juvenile crime criminals, send a message to parents and communities that this cannot be tolerated. | ||
| There's been a lot of combativeness between the mayor and the president in the beginning because listen, the mayor has a lot of pride when it comes to home rule and the people she represents in the district, but she realizes she had a problem. | ||
| This is why just this week, she talked about the fact that carjacking and car theft is down by 87%. | ||
| Just think about this. | ||
| For 11 straight days, Greta, there was no murder in Washington, D.C. That's unprecedented and has not been heard of since the last five years. | ||
| That means someone walking the streets today are alive because of what you may consider as the president's extreme measure. | ||
| What do you do now? | ||
| You go back to the drawing board and you may say the mayor does not like the National Guard. | ||
| She doesn't see them as being effective. | ||
| She doesn't like the ICE arresting immigrants. | ||
| But as long as she and the president are communicated and there's not a war of words and they can work out a situation where you can lower crime, make communities safe and get this under control and put laws in place where you make these young people realize you got to be accountable and responsible for your crime. | ||
| I think that's a formula that not only D.C. would welcome, it's a formula that would be welcomed across America. | ||
| Did you hear a change in tone from the DC mayor this week compared to how she first reacted to the president's decision? | ||
| And why do you think that was? | ||
|
unidentified
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I don't think there's been a necessary a change in tone. | |
| I think Mrs. Bowser has always shown her willingness to meet with the president. | ||
| She did go to Bar-a-Lago right after Donald Trump was elected. | ||
| And just think about this. | ||
| And I want people to really listen to this. | ||
| When Barack Obama was president of the United States, not once did Mayor Bowser go to the White House for a meeting. | ||
| Since Donald Trump has been in as president, she's gone to the White House and Mar-a-Lago on many occasions. | ||
| The bottom line is when you're a mayor and you're a leader and you're elected by the people and you feel your authority is being threatened, you're going to fight back. | ||
| Donald Trump, with his power as president of the United States, wants to change and make D.C. a beautiful city again. | ||
| What has happened, sometimes there's going to be conflict. | ||
| There will be friction. | ||
| But as long as that friction leads to results where people are safer, I don't people think people mind. | ||
| I don't think it's fair to criticize the mayor that she's changed the tone, is that the mayor is becoming more wiser. | ||
| She's looking at the stats. | ||
| She's looking at the numbers. | ||
| And she also realizes that you and I can talk about the stats until the cows come home. | ||
| But what people more realize is what's happening where they are. | ||
| Are they safe? | ||
| Do they feel threatened by criminals? | ||
| Do they feel threatened in their homes? | ||
| Are there too many homicides? | ||
| Are there too many rapes? | ||
| And for her bottom line, it's about that she serves the people and she wants to allay their fears that she's doing something about crime. | ||
| And I think finally, after all this friction of a relationship, the mayor and the president has worked out a formula where they can work together for the greater good of the city. | ||
| Let's talk about the legality of this, Mr. Williams. | ||
| The Insurrection Act of 1807 says it authorizes the president to deploy armed forces or the National Guard domestically to suppress armed rebellions, riots, or other extreme circumstances. | ||
| Where is that happening in Washington, D.C.? | ||
| What would you point to that falls into that criteria of armed rebellion, riots, or other extreme circumstances? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I think anybody listening to this who lives in a district and lives in places like Memphis and Chicago and other places where there's high crime and Baltimore City, and you're leading the world, I mean, in stats of homicide, I think that's an emergency situation. | |
| I think that's a situation that's out of control. | ||
| And that's a situation that warrants for some emergency action to take place. | ||
| And as I said, while this may seem extreme, it doesn't mean that it's going to be permanent. | ||
| You're just trying to work out a solution to get this crime under control and make sure that you don't have members of the city council, members of the legislature that's enacted legislation where you think you're protecting these young people. | ||
| And what you're doing is making their criminal behavior even more hard. | ||
| Today it's a car. | ||
| Tomorrow it's breaking in somebody's home. | ||
| Tomorrow it's rape and the next day it's homicide. | ||
| You've got to get this under control. | ||
| People deserve to be safe. | ||
| They pay their taxpayer dollars to make sure that law enforcement provides them with security. | ||
| They don't have the luxury of Capitol Hill where they have security and security barriers, the White House where they have fences and they're protected. | ||
| They depend on law enforcement and the leadership to protect them. | ||
| Well, sir, then if this is just a short-term solution, what happens when the National Guard leaves Washington, D.C. Is there a change in policy needed to address what you're talking about, which is juvenile crime? | ||
|
unidentified
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I think the mayor said it best. | |
| While they don't want the National Guard, more federal agents, the FBI, the DEA, because look, just think about this. | ||
| She is short of 800 police officers. | ||
| The same as in Baltimore and other major cities. | ||
| They lack the resources. | ||
| If the president can come in and sort of help them by deploying more federal resources to help them fight crime, then you can sustain what you're seeing now, where once the National Guard leaves, then all of a sudden the criminals can come out of their home again and continue their criminal behavior. | ||
| You've got to go through this process. | ||
| And I think the mayor is smart enough. | ||
| I think Pamela Smith, our police chief, is smart enough and other mayors around the country to realize that the president is willing to invest more money and more resources. | ||
| You can figure out how this make you can make this work to combat crime. | ||
| D.C. Resident Armstrong Williams, owner of the Baltimore Sun columnist, TV talk show host and entrepreneur, is our guest here this morning on the Washington Journal. | ||
| We want you to join us for this conversation. | ||
| Here's how you can do so. | ||
| Republicans 202-748-8001. | ||
| Democrats 202-748-8000. | ||
| And Independents 202-748-8002. | ||
| D.C. residents. | ||
| We want to hear from you at 202-748-8003. | ||
| Remember, all of you can text at that same line, just include your first name, city, and state. | ||
| Mr. Williams, I want to play for you and our viewers, the California Governor Gavin Newsom. | ||
| He held a news conference yesterday to talk about crime and the president deploying the National Guard. | ||
| He said the president needs to do so in some Republican states where he said crime was significantly worse than in California. | ||
| Here he is. | ||
|
unidentified
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The carnage in Louisiana is well defined. | |
| Of course, Mississippi leads the nation as the number one murder state in America. | ||
| Imagine this in particular may resonate with the president of the United States. | ||
| It's got a murder rate 180%, 180% higher than Los Angeles. | ||
|
unidentified
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Interesting. | |
| LA has more people. | ||
| These are all per capita numbers. | ||
| More people than Los Angeles. | ||
| Perhaps the president could deploy the National Guard in every corner of Mississippi. | ||
| It's the murder rate's out of control there. | ||
|
unidentified
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Carnage. | |
| And governor may want to make that phone call. | ||
| Again, this is if they care about the issues of crime and violence. | ||
| I would note the St. Louis murder rate is 190% larger than Oakland. | ||
|
unidentified
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I can go on. | |
| We could talk about the carnage in Arkansas, again, one of the top 10 murder states in America. | ||
|
unidentified
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Two and a half, 2.6 times greater than San Francisco. | |
| Again, these are just not just observations. | ||
|
unidentified
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They're stone-cold facts, and the fact remains if the president... | |
| We'll leave this now for the U.S. House as members gavel in for what's expected to be a brief session this morning. | ||
| No votes are scheduled. | ||
| Live coverage here on C-SPAN. | ||
| The house will be in order. | ||
| The chair lays before the House a communication from the Speaker. | ||
| The Speaker's Rooms, Washington, D.C., August 29th, 2025. | ||
| I hereby appoint the Honorable Riley M. Moore to act as Speaker Pro Tempore on this day. |